Crime plays role in ratings

Saturday

May 11, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 11, 2013 at 11:39 PM

Lafourche residents' health and well-being ranks better than in neighboring Terrebonne, a new study shows.

Katie UrbaszewskiStaff Writer

Lafourche residents' health and well-being ranks better than in neighboring Terrebonne, a new study shows. One reason is the disparate rates of violent crime between the two parishes.It's one of several key factors examined by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Together, they rank counties and parishes throughout the U.S. annually; the latest report was released in late April.Aside from crime, researchers ranked counties and parishes based on levels of obesity, high school graduation, access to doctors and hospitals, children living with single parents and other social, economic and health measures.Lafourche ranks eighth among Louisiana's 64 parishes for overall health and well-being, the study says. Terrebonne ranks 27th.One of the statistics that differs most between the two parishes is violent crime, a category that includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.Lafourche ranks ninth and Terrebonne 38th out of 53 parishes — a few parishes have not yet sent their information to researchers.The rating is based on the number of violent crimes reported for every 100,000 people in the parish. Terrebonne had a rate of 594 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2012, according to the report. Lafourche had 226.Both are under the state's violent crime rate of 616 per 100,000 residents.Besides the obvious grief it causes to those involved and the community at large, “high crime rates can also deter residents from pursuing healthy behaviors such as exercising outdoors,” the study says.“Additionally,” the report says, “exposure to crime and violence has been shown to increase stress, which may exacerbate hypertension and other stress-related disorders and may contribute to obesity.”Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said the parish is still a safe place to live.Most of the violent crime in Terrebonne is domestic or drug-related, he said.“Assaults are often domestic,” he said. “It's unfortunate these relationships go sour. A lot of times it's from alcohol and drugs.”Those addicted to and selling drugs pose some of the most violent threats in the parish, Larpenter said.“We are putting people in jail for drug-related crimes,” he said. “We want them off the streets. As long as you get these violent people off the streets, you're going to help the community. That's just part of the game. The parish is growing. There's a lot of money down here. We have drugs down here in the last four years we've never seen before.”Those drugs include heroin, meth, synthetic marijuana and bath salts, Larpenter said.Study researchers recommend several programs that have historically decreased crime. They recommend drug courts, which both Terrebonne and Lafourche offer for addicts who plead guilty to nonviolent crimes, and creating Neighborhood Watch groups, also common locally. They also recommend resources they say have shown to reduce juvenile crime rates, including pre-kindergarten schooling for low-income families; therapy for youths with delinquency, violence or drug and alcohol problems; and placing children with adult relatives or adults they know rather than foster care.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.